Plans unveiled for a new 4,000 home community
The owners of Escrick Park Estate, in North Yorkshire, have outlined their vision for a brand new community featuring more than 4,000 homes.
In response to the inclusion of land south-west of Escrick in the latest stage of Selby District Council’s new Local Plan consultation, the Estate, which owns the land off the A19 between York and Selby, has started to draw up ideas for a masterplan for a community on a 200 hectare site called Heronby.
The Estate has appointed a project team to help develop the proposals, including Brooks Murray as masterplanners, and Turnberry Consulting as planning and development advisors.
Beilby Forbes Adam from the Estate, said: “We realise there is a pressing need to provide good quality, attractive housing which people can afford and in an environmentally sustainable way.
“But we do not want to build a faceless, rootless dormitory village with an absence of community and a fixation on the car.
“At Tornagrain near Inverness we found a new town sympathetic to its surroundings, built with community buy-in, and created by a landowner who cared about their legacy and who had taken on the role of master developer themselves.
“Having seen what can be achieved by estates which are, like us, rooted in their communities, we are determined to ensure that we plan and build a Yorkshire village fit for the 21st century – a place where anyone would be proud to live and work.
“We are now working with the teams who helped deliver Tornagrain and Chapelton to begin the process of producing a masterplan for Heronby.”
Integral to the development of the masterplan has been the creation of a community with a mix of affordable and open-market homes, set within green spaces for recreation and sport, alongside business premises and schools.
Heronby would be based around a high street and market square, and there would also be new neighbourhood centres offering facilities close to homes.
The masterplan provides an opportunity to improve the ecology of Heron Wood, which sits within the site. Native trees and shrubs would be planted to increase the biodiversity of the area.
Alongside the masterplan, the Estate will support, and where possible facilitate, the construction of a bypass, helping to alleviate many of the existing traffic issues in the village of Escrick.
Forbes Adam added: “Heronby will take many years to deliver. Our plans are still at an early stage and we would like to start a conversation with local people, sharing ideas about what Heronby could deliver.
“We have set up a website for people to learn more about Heronby, and to offer us their thoughts. The website, and our contact details, can be found at www.heronby.co.uk
“In due course, we hope to be able to make arrangements to meet people face-to-face for a design-based consultation where we discuss ideas and alter and improve the masterplan.”
